◆ SpookStack

a Br eee — a ae ae 2 ae a were all volunteers and deserved to know what kind of a future they were preparing to fight for. Furthermore, the FRD needed a chance to develop the loyalty of the troops who were presumably to install and protect its leaders on Cuban soil as members of a provisional government. 37.. This was one example of a high-handed attitude toward Cubans that became more and more evident as the project progressed. Cubans were the basic ingredient for a successful operation and, although the aim of having the exiles direct activities was probably idealistic and unattainable, nevertheless ‘the Agency should have been able to organize them for maximm participation and to handle them properly to get the job done. An American Operation 38. But with the Americans running the military. effort, running Radio Swan, and. doing unilateral recruiting, the operation became purely an American one in the exile Cuban mind, and in the public mind as well. In by-passing the Cubans the Agency was weakening its own cover. 39. The official attitude which produced this situation is reflected in the project's progress reports. In November a report noted that the Agency had “plenty of flexibility to choose’ the Cuban group we would eventually sanction as a provisional government." A January report indicated that the Agency, rather than the Cubans, was making the plans and decisions: “We have